John Kerry to travel to Jerusalem for talks with Benjamin Netanyahu

John Kerry, US Secretary of State, speaks during a press conference after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakdar Brahimi, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Sept. 13. (AP/Keystone, Martial Trezzini)

Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Jerusalem on Sunday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss progress on the Middle East peace talks and Syria.

The two men will discuss “the final status negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians,” State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said in a statement. “They will also focus on developments in Syria.”

Kerry, who has tried to revive a long-elusive peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, met for three hours with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in London on Monday.

Since becoming secretary of state in February, Kerry has single-handedly tried to restart the peace talks, which have been frozen since September 2010. He has made six trips to the region and has met with negotiators from both sides.

Kerry is currently in Geneva, holding negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over persuading Syria to surrender its chemical weapons arsenal to international control.